Revisions policy

This may lead to the adjustment of previously communicated amounts of pension entitlements. For whether or not the administrator corrects an erroneous determination of benefits already in payment, the board uses the decision framework below.

If the fund intends to correct an erroneous past pension benefit, a legal test copuld be made to determine whether a past correction is permissible

Pension determined too low?

We always correct underdetermined pensions. We correct towards the future and also pay out underpaid pensions in the past.

Pension determined too high?

We correct towards the future and also reclaim past pension overpayments in various situations. Below, we describe the principles for determining whether overpaid pensions will be reclaimed. The board may deviate from these principles.

We reclaim overpaid pensions above €500
If the size of the total financial impact over the period of making the error and discovery is less than €500 in total, the fund will not proceed with correction. The costs associated with the effort of correction, communication, and legal review do not outweigh amounts smaller than €500.

We basically claim back up to 5 years
In the light of adequate management within the pension fund, the relationship between the fund (professional party) and the participant (private individual), it is reasonable to provide protection to the participant with regard to the time period within which errors must be discovered and corrected about the past. The fund applies the statutory limitation period of five years.

An exception may be made to the above principles if:

• The error on an annual basis exceeds 10% of the benefit or more than €5,000 on an annual basis. In this case, the fund may proceed to recover over a longer period (In such a situation, the statutory limitation period will be subject to legal review). Within limits, it can be expected that errors of a certain (large) size will also be signalled by the participant. This limit is set in the assessment framework at more than 10% of the benefit or more than €5,000 on an annual basis.

• The size of the error exceeds 10bp of fund assets. In this case, the fund may still recover. An error in determining the amount of a benefit may affect more than one participant. If this is the case, the board has to make a specific consideration in the relevant case between the interests of the “affected” participants and those of the other participants in the fund. This consideration cannot be framed in advance in a decision framework.

Has the pension capital been set too high or too low?

It may happen that a pension has not yet reached the payment phase, but that the pension capital needs to be revised. The basic principle here is that the member receives what they are entitled to under the pension scheme rules. In principle, corrections are applied retrospectively.

Balanced weighing of interests

The pension scheme rules determine the pension capital, entitlements and benefits to which the member is entitled. In principle, this therefore leaves the fund’s board with no discretion to use the assets in any way other than that specified in the pension scheme rules for the benefit of the members. However, exceptional circumstances may arise on the basis of which a decision may be taken not to implement a review, or to implement it only in part, in order to avoid adverse effects on the participant or to mitigate the consequences for the participant, invoking the ‘hardship clause’ where necessary. In such circumstances, the board will explicitly take into account the balanced representation of the interests of all participants in its decision-making.